Unbreakable
by TheAnalei
Summary: They didn't all make it past 20 in their first life, or their second. Now they're being given a third chance, but can they make it with memories not their own, and possibly the world, fighting against them? AUish. Sequel to "A Brother's Secret". Notes inside. Rated for future violence.
1. If You Have the Blood of a Demon

**Important Notes: This is a sequel to ****_A Brother's Secret_****, but please take not that it takes place in the same world as in the "Epilogue" chapter during the ****In Another World, In Another Time**** segment of the chapter. You DO NOT need to have read that story to understand what will be going on in the future as it will be fully explained in this story, but there PROBABLy will be confusing aspects relating back to ****_A Brother's Secret_****. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.**

**Warnings: Some disturbing imagery, OCs (they will not reappear), character death, possible OoC characters**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, but I own my words and plot (and OCs!)**

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**If You Have the Blood of a "Demon"**

Luffy, three months old

* * *

The sky was a blazing orange, surrounded by dark gray clouds and the night sky. The air was thick with smoke, the smell of burning wood and flesh pungent. The flames were tall and roaring, taking down buildings and people, animals and plants – everything that stood in its way was destroyed by the inferno in seconds.

Children and mothers ran quickly to try and avoid the blows of the silver swords that came near them. Their shadows were long in the harsh light, but they were overwhelmed by the dark shadows of the soldiers chasing them. The men who were fighting back were quickly being taken down, their dark red source of life quickly joining the orange flames and shining like rubies in the enormous, flickering lights.

"Hiken!"

Some of the attacking soldiers screamed as fire burst across their skin, flames eating at their flesh. The perpetrator stared at them with hard yet pained eyes before turning and continuing to run barefoot down the hot, debris ridden, red, wet ground. One arm was held across her blood-soaked abdomen and the other held close a bundle with extreme possessiveness.

"There she is! Get her!"

The woman who had just attacked the soldiers gritted her teeth, speeding up as much as she could. Some of the men who had been protecting their home had suddenly stopped and turned to face the attackers, moving in front of the woman who was running the opposite way.

"You won't be getting them!" The defending men shouting. Their leader held up a sword, pointing it at the invaders while glaring. "Attack!"

The woman stopped and turned around, eyes wide with fear. "Raven!"

The leader turned back, her eyes hard. "You must run! You can't let him die! Go, we will be fine!"

"But-"

"GO!"

The woman gritted her teeth and would've ignored the other woman if it were not for the squirming and whining she felt against her bosom. "You better come out alive, Raven!"

She turned and ran despite the screaming of her heart and the older woman, Raven, grinned at her back.

"As you wish, my Majesty." Raven turned back to the battle and charged with the rest of her men with a battle cry, raising her large sword to attack the invaders clothed in blue and white. "You will not get our Queen!"

The running woman was panting now, holding the rags of her dress up as she ran and holding it to the wound bleeding out. Her steps were slowing, yet she did not give up. The sounds of battle – swords and guns, cannons, screaming men and women, explosions – grew more distant as she approached the docks. The water was lit up by the display of fire behind her as the city burned, but she dared not look back as she ran to the edge of the longest dock. At the end was a small boat, only large enough for one person. She jumped in and let go of the tattered ends of her dress to reach out and burn the rope holding the boat to the dock. She felt the dock rattling with the steps of a stampede of men in uniforms of justice and she took one last look at the burning island before setting her own feet aflame. She turned away, hurriedly guiding the boat away from her home, out of reach of the uniformed masses. She felt only slight pleasure hearing their enraged yells. She was too busy trying not to pass out and trying to protect the baby she held in one of her arms.

The baby snuggled up against her and cooed. She looked down at him with a soft, tired smile. "Don't worry, you'll be safe. I'll make sure you're safe."

* * *

Three days later, she was far from home and far from any sign of land. The sun was shining bright over the deep blue sea which was oddly calm for the New World. The woman couldn't see far and instead focused on trying to get food for her baby. She didn't have much left. He had taken most of the milk she had to offer. She knew he was upset and hungry, he was crying, but at the same time he seemed to understand something was wrong. His cries weren't as piercing as they normally would be and he tried to cuddle to his mother, as if trying to soothe her. She smiled softly at him and ran her hand over his hair gently.

She was surprised she had lasted this long. She supposed it was the luck of D that had allowed her to live this long without treatment for her wound, which had quickly grown infected. She hoped her baby wouldn't get sick from being near it – she would never forgive herself if that happened.

Something bumped into her skiff, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She could only tilt her head a little and then, she only saw wood. How had she not seen an approaching ship? She could hear the men on board yelling at each other and then she felt someone picking her and her baby up. Her baby began to fuss, but he was far too hungry and tired at this point to make loud noises and large movements. He merely snuggled closer to his mother for protection she knew she was currently not capable of giving aside from throwing an arm over him.

She felt herself being placed on the ground and suddenly she was surrounded by men and women alike in white doctors cloaks, shouting at other members of the ship, but it all sounded muffled to her ears.

Someone suddenly began to lift her baby away from her. She inwardly panicked. Not yet. Not yet. She still had time. She lifted one of her hands and grasped the offending wrist tightly, turning hazy eyes to whoever was holding her baby. She thought it went quiet, but she wasn't sure. Maybe her ears had just stopped working.

"Please…find Garp…Monkey D…Garp…Please…" Someone laid their hand over hers and she felt the promise, they would find Garp for her. She smiled and reached her hand up – the limb now trembling erratically from the effort of movement – to her son one last time. The arms moved her baby closer and she saw his large eyes staring at her, felt his small hands against her cheeks. Her smile widened as she felt a few teardrops escape the corners of her eyes. With great effort, she turned onto her side and kissed his forehead one last time.

"Live free…Luffy…please…"

She was gone before the doctors could try to save her.

* * *

The baby was eagerly drinking down the formula they had managed to get, thanks to the nurses endless stores and quick thinking. He was small, probably only three months old, far too young to lose his mother. The man had to wonder what happened though, for the woman to have had a wound so fatal and be in the middle of nowhere.

"How's he doing?"

The brown haired man turned to his blond haired friend as he approached from behind, coming up to lean on the railing next to him. The brown haired man gave a soft smile and a shrug.

"He's doing alright. At least he's not crying anymore."

It was silent between the two. The baby had cried loudly when his mother had been taken away. None of them had known what to do, not even food had truly calmed him, at least not until now, two hours later. The baby – Luffy, if they heard the mother correctly – was looking quite tired, his eyes drooping, yet he refused to let go of the bottle.

"I wonder what Garp is going to say."

The brunet haired man snorted. "Probably some justice crap, blame us for the death of the mother."

"I don't think he'd do that. You know what he's like."

The brunet's eyes went downcast. "Yes, but…if this kid is his family, then…"

The blond sighed. "It won't be pretty. At least we're not the ones in charge of calling him, though."

The brunet laughed softly. "I'm glad I don't have that job."

The baby began to squirm and the brown haired man immediately looked down. The baby had begun to whine and he quickly, yet gently, began to rock the baby, making comforting sounds as he held him closer. The blond watched the interaction with soft eyes as the man beside him finally managed to lull the baby to sleep. The brunet sighed heavily and the blond looked at him with empathetic eyes, knowing how his friend had a soft spot for children.

"C'mon Thatch, lets head inside. We should put him somewhere he can rest easy. You look like you need a rest too."

The brunet nodded and began to walk with the other man. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go find that crib the nurses were talking about earlier."

* * *

Whitebeard held the baby in one of his large hands. The baby was currently grabbing at his thumb, awed at the size difference between his own small hand and the man's own large ones. He assumed that the small, loud, always hungry baby was a D. There was something about him that made it impossible for him to not be a D. He didn't know what it was, he just knew.

One of the men in the crows nest shouted something about seeing an approaching ship. Whitebeard looked up and to the right when one of them shouted starboard, seeing the small wooden ship that they were talking about. He could see one large figure on it and knew, with one glance, that it was Garp.

He allowed the Marine to board once he was close enough. His commanders were all nearby, the rest of his crew spread out on the deck of the ship, watching. Garp, for once, was not grinning like he normally would have been. In fact, he looked rather worn. He had bags under his eyes and he was frowning, the corners of his lips dragging his skin to sag. His arms were crossed tensely, not with the confidence he would have had. It set alarm bells off in all of their heads and they all watched with keen eyes as the man glared at Whitebeard with what they thought was hate. Whitebeard could tell it was misplaced rage.

"What do you want, Whitebeard? I have no time for any meetings like this," Garp demanded, voice gruff and tired. From where he was, he could not see the baby cradled to the larger man's chest. He held his hand up when Marco opened his mouth to yell at the Vice Admiral, silencing his first in command. Whitebeard then spoke, purposefully keeping the child out of sight as he talked.

"We found something interesting a few days ago. A woman in a skiff powered by fire, floating out here on the seas of the New World. She said your name. Do you have any idea why?"

Garp's face pulled into a shocked expression before his eyebrows narrowed in outrage, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Is the woman alive?"

"No. She has died."

Garp seemed to deflate. Newgate noticed he was eyeing his hand holding the baby suspiciously now.

"Who was she, for her to have personally asked for you?" Marco said, staring at the Marine with hard eyes. Thatch looked next to him to his blond friend, grimacing slightly. Marco had been high strung about this whole thing. Marco said it was just a result of his animal instincts from his Devil Fruit. Thatch thought it was because the child may be in danger, something he understood, but at the same time he knew they had to keep calm and not anger Garp. They didn't want to have to fight the man now, especially since he already seemed quite irritated.

Garp turned to the blond with hard eyes. "She was the lover of my son, the mother of my grandchild, and the target of a recent attack by the Marines. I was hoping she was alive, but it seems to have been an empty wish."

Everyone on the ship traded uneasy looks except for Whitebeard. He stared right at Garp, judging him. He deemed his words true – but then again, when had the man ever lied – and shifted his hand. Garp's eyes widened as he stared at the pirate captain's hand.

"I believe this is your grandson, then."

He lowered his hand as Garp stepped forward, allowing the other man to take the baby from his grasp. Garp looked down at the three month old boy with fond eyes. The baby stared up at him, his eyes wide and wondering, before he directed a gummy smile at the man, reaching his small hands up to his grandfather. Garp smiled and held the baby closer. The pirates felt a little odd, seeing the man so peaceful. It was a very different image from the loud, confident Garp they were normally faced with.

"Thank you for rescuing my grandson. But, may I ask one more favor of you?"

* * *

"Do you think he ever met her? Aside from the day he said the Marines sacked her home."

Thatch looked over at Marco and then back at the small grave that Whitebeard had some of the commanders build, as per Garp's request. The Marine was not able to bury the woman and the Marines believed she had died at sea. He couldn't risk moving the body himself on such a small boat, already with a baby to care for, especially when he was already being suspected by his superiors for trying to help her escape (something he admitted only to them because she had done nothing wrong other than have the child and to Garp, that did not make her a criminal).

"I kind of doubt it," The brunet haired man said, staring at the grave before them. The woman had been a D, and learning that, it made sense that she smiled in her death. Her name was carved into the stone by Jozu with fingers of diamond. He had just finished carving and was staring at the grave with the other three. "I'm sure he wishes that he did, though. It's must be hard, losing someone that he would've been close to before he even knew her."

"It's always hard to lose someone. I'm just hoping that he'll be able to keep the baby a secret."

"It's Garp. He's a D. He'll manage somehow," Jozu spoke, staring at the grave before him with slightly sad eyes.

Izou, who had been walking around the field around them for quite some time, finally returned hands filled with flowers. He laid them at the foot of her grave and then stepped back. They were all silent for a moment, staring at the woman's grave, before soundlessly turning and heading back to their ship. Two things were on their minds: Would they see that baby when he was a man, and where was the Mera Mera no Mi now?

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**AN: Here it is! The sequel to A Brother's Secret! I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter. I might rewrite it, might not, but I want you guys to know now that this story probably won't be updated for a month because life is deciding to kick me in the ass right now and it was a struggle to just find the time and energy to write this. I apologize, BUT I have big things planned for this story and I'm really excited for it! At the same time, I want you guys to tell me what you want to see in this story. I've written out most of the plot but I'm also a little stuck. I'm gonna try to figure it out. But for the fluffy scenes that we all know are going to happen, do you have anything you would like to see? **

**Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think!**


	2. The Beginnings of a Bond

**Warnings: Fluff**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, but I own my words!**

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_"My fortune is yours for the taking, but you have to find it first! I left everything I own in One Piece."_

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Ace was three years old when his father died. He couldn't remember much about him except for strong arms, a wide smile, a booming laugh, and a huge mustache.

When his father died, Ace was left with Garp. The very first thing Garp did was drop him off to live with a woman named Dadan. He didn't really like Dadan at first. She kept saying that Roger was bad, and Ace denied it with everything he had. That is, until he heard, more and more often, people bad mouthing him. It made the young child second guess, and he was a little ball of confusion for about a year.

That is, until Luffy entered the picture.

* * *

He was playing outside on a sunny day, poking a bug around, when he saw the huge, hulking mass of grandpa walking towards Dadan's hut. Ace hadn't seen his familiar face in a year. A smile lit up his freckled cheeks as he ran forward, latching onto the old man's leg. He laughed and lifted Ace up into one of his arms, and it was then that Ace saw the smaller form Garp held.

"Grampa, was that?" Ace asked, squirming in Garp's grip as he tried to get closer to the small bundle.

"This here is Luffy, Ace. He's going to be your brother from now on."

"Brother?" Ace asked, looking down at the smaller form with a pinched, confused expression. Garp chuckled.

"Yes, brother."

Ace stared at the infant, at the small pudgy face. Luffy squirmed a little in Garp's arms and cooed a little, turning his eyes up to the four year old. He flailed his hands around a little bit. Ace reached out a finger to poke the baby's cheeks and then blinked, confused, when he gripped Ace's finger with his own tiny fingers. Luffy gurgled, content when Ace didn't try to pull away.

"He seems to like you," Garp said softly to the older child, smiling gently at his two grandsons.

"Cans I hold 'im?" Ace asked as he turned his head up to his Grandpa. Garp blinked, slightly surprised because he had thought Ace wouldn't welcome Luffy, before saying, "Once we get inside." Maybe things would turn out better than he at first thought they would turn out.

* * *

Ace blocked out the sound of Garp and Dadan shouting at each other. They did this the first time Garp visited, and Ace knew that Dadan didn't like Garp all too much. She was always complaining about him and how he made her take care of Ace. In the end, he decided to ignore their arguing. Luffy was much more interesting.

Garp had told Ace that Luffy was four months old (Ace didn't really understand what that meant, but he figured it was a weird way of saying that Luffy was really little). He squirmed around a lot and made loud noises and occasionally he would smile, as if he had just learned how to do so. Whenever Ace brought his hand close, he would grab it in an iron grip.

"You're tiny," Ace mumbled and then poked the baby's cheek. He still didn't understand how anything could be so squishy. Luffy cooed at the gente touch and reached out, grasping his finger again. This time, instead of just holding it, he brought it to his mouth and began to suck on the appendage.

Ace grimaced at the feel of drool and whined a little in the back of his throat. Luffy was extremely clingy, he realized that, but why did he have to suck on his finger?

Luffy, right then, sent a large, gummy smile in Ace's direction. It made Ace's heart all warm inside, but he didn't know why.

(Maybe it was because here, in his new home, smiles were rarely directed at him. He was always left to his own devices. They only truly interacted when he wanted food. Aside from that, he was companionless.)

"How am I going to afford feeding two D's?" Dadan suddenly boomed, shocking Ace with the intensity of volume in her voice. He looked at Luffy and saw that his eyes were watering and he looked really upset. Ace tensed at the beginnings of whimpering, looking around for help because Garp and Dadan were still yelling and he didn't know what to do.

But alas, he was the only one there.

Ace turned back to the baby and waved his hands frantically, trying to stop him. "Don't cry!" Ace exclaimed and then, when it was futile and he had no other ideas, he scooped the baby up from the blanket he was on and into his arms. Luffy let out a few more whimpers but then the sounds died off and his squirming ceased. To Ace's relief, he let out a contented coo and then snuggled into the older boy.

"You can't separate them when they're like that! If you try, I'll arrest you and all your bandits!"

"Eh?! No way!" Dadan gaped, stuck in place as Garp laughed victoriously.

The old man then walked over to Ace and Luffy. He knelt down to their eye level and smiled when Ace grinned at him, the boy's eyes happy and shining.

"He's stayin', right?" Ace asked, wiggling a little where he sat. Garp let out another boisterous laugh and reached ot a large, calloused hand to ruffle Ace's hair.

"He's going to stay here with you. You better not complain about it."

Minutes later, Garp was gone on the white capped waves, hoping that the world could wait for those two boys with what the government considered to be damned blood lines. Even if it was just for a few years, he didn't want them to be hurt at such a young age.

* * *

They didn't have a crib. Ace was pretty sure they weren't going to get one. They had made a makeshift crib instead, from an old box and with a couple of spare blankets. It was in the same room Ace slept in, next to his worn futon on the ground.

The only light in their room came from the moon shining outside of their window. Ace was glad it was there. He had just woken up from a nightmare and this whole year, whenever he had a nightmare, he had great difficulty with it. He no longer had his Daddy to run to for comfort, and the bandits weren't the comforting type.

So he curled up by the window instead ,wiping tears from his freckled cheeks as he remembered his Daddy's stories about the moon, how she was there even when you couldn't see her, how she would always provide comfort after a nightmare.

He sniffled a little and looked down at his hands, at the wetness now covering them. He frowned. Ace hated crying. It made him feel weak, and he didn't want to be weak. He wanted to be strong.

A whimper broke the silence and Ace looked back to the box, blinking before crawling the short distance to the wooden object.

He looked down and his eyes met Luffy's. The baby's eyes were large and wet as he stared up at Ace. Ace brought up one of his hands and ran it through Luffy's hair. It calmed Luffy down for a second, but then the baby sneezed. Some snot got on Ace's hand and Luffy's face. Ace made a disgusted whine as he retracted his hand and reached for a stray blanket, wiping his hand on it. He then lifted it to Luffy's face to wipe it off. Luffy smiled up at him once the blanket was pulled away, making a loud happy sound. Ace smiled back, which got a happy squeal from the baby.

"Babies are weird," Ace whispered to no one as he moved to lay down next to the box. He got under the covers of his futon and then reached his hand out, putting it in the box Luffy was in.

He was asleep in seconds, but Luffy wasn't. The baby gripped Ace's fingers first, and then allowed his eyes to shut. That was how they would sleep every night for at least a year.

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**AN: I'm sorry that this is so late! I'm gonna say this too - it'll start a little slow like A Brother's Secret, but after that it's gonna be BAM after BAM.**

**alesfan: Thank you so much! I'm really happy that you liked A Brother's Secret :) I hope you end up liking this one just as much!**

**Guest: Thanks! :)**

**seikens: I know, I feel like I took a long time trying to get this up. I hope that this ends up just as good as A Brother's Secret!**

**MegDBrew: Sorry the update took so long! I hope you liked it :)**

**Trafalgar-Sev: If you're up to date with the manga, then you were right! :D Don't worry, they'll interact a lot more in the future. For now though, back to the bandits!**

**FlightWulf: I'm so glad I finally got to posting this sequel! It's in the works and hopefully, it'll turn out just as good as A Brother's Secret! I have big ideas for this story. I'm glad you're liking it so far! Thank you very much! **

**I'm sorry that I updated this later than I said I would! Also, thank you so very much for reading! :D**


	3. There are Ghosts in my Dreams

**Warnings: fluff, minor angst, implied child abuse (because Sabo's parents are mean)**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I own my thoughts/ideas/words/etc...**

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Luffy was loud. He was louder than the Tiger Lord that wandered around the forest, than the big bear that it always fought. Louder than the thunder, louder than the bandits drunken shenanigans. Loud, louder, loudest.

Ace thought it suited him.

It had been three months since Garp had brought the "little monster" (as Dadan had quickly taken to calling him) to the bandit's hideout. Luffy was almost always a happy baby, but Ace quickly learned two conditions had to be met for him not to wail. One, he could never be hungry. When he was getting peckish, he would start to whimper and whine. Slowly, if they didn't get him a bottle fast enough, he would get louder and louder, until he was wailing so loudly that the animals around the hideout would scatter. Second, he could never be alone. Sometimes when Ace would leave the room, he would come back to a crying Luffy. He would only calm down when Ace sat down and took him in his lap, talking to him and tickling him and waving toys in his face.

Right now, they were outside of the hideout, with Pochi, the quiet and obedient pup, watching them with a keen eye.

"Woah!" Ace exclaimed, picking up a large beetle with his dirt covered fingers and running over to Luffy, who was sitting on a ratty old blanket Ace had dragged out. "Luffy! Look at this!" The baby looked up from the flower that he had plucked from the ground, a bright red one. He made a happy sound when he saw Ace coming closer and dropped the plant, reaching out for the older boy. Ace smiled and sat down in front of the child, holding out the beetle. The baby made a gurgling sound and reached out for it with a loud yell, a smile on his lips. Ace grinned, but only after seconds of the baby touching the bug, it escaped Ace's hands and flew off.

"Hey! Come back!" Ace said, getting to his feet and beginning to run after the bug, but he was cut off by a giggling. He turned around, blinking in surprise when he saw a large, purple and pink butterfly resting on Luffy's nose. Luffy clapped, and Ace couldn't help but to laugh.

* * *

Sometimes, Ace would have strange dreams. They happened more often during naptime than at night. He would dream of a blonde boy. Sometimes he was in a strange room with strange objects, such as a box that had people trapped inside of it. Other times, they would be playing in the woods, surrounded by trees. They would often be joined by an older boy, and Ace couldn't make out much of him either, but his laugh made Ace happy, and he was always kind to Ace and the blonde boy, even when they wrestled.

Ace didn't understand why he dreamt of people he had never met. But at the same time, it was normal for him. He figured other people would have similar dreams, so he never brought it up. But still, he wondered who they were. He couldn't go far, so he would just stare out at the woods, wondering if they would ever emerge from it's mysterious depths.

Dadan could only wonder why, whenever Ace woke up from a nap feeling exceptionally energetic, Ace always looked a little lost, like he was searching for someone. She could only ever wonder why Ace looked lonely.

* * *

Sabo didn't understand adults sometimes.

They were all so weird, and they always made sure his clothes looked nice. He didn't get it though, why did they want him to wear these stuffy clothes? He picked at the sleeves of his dress shirt with distaste, grimacing at how itchy it made him feel.

"Mommy, can I take it off?" He asked as politely as a 3-bordering-4-year-old could ask, with his head tilted to the side and his eyes wide and innocent.

"Sabo!" His mother replied, scandalized. "How could you say that, it looks lovely on you and behave, we do not take our shirts off in public like barbarians!" She turned away from him, her nose sticking up in the air. He frowned, his lips almost pouting, and looked back down.

Everyone around him was in equally weird looking clothes. He wanted to wear loose clothes, clothes that he could play in. He didn't want to have to worry about dirtying his clothes and getting yelled at for it.

He just wanted to play.

* * *

One of the reasons Sabo wanted to play was that he always had dreams, dreams about two other boys. They would play in the woods, wrestling and laughing and telling stories that Sabo would laugh at when he woke up.

One time he asked his parents if he could go find these boys in his dreams. His parents immediately took to yelling at the boy.

"You can't go in the woods!" They said.

"You're a noble, not a scoundrel!" They said.

"Don't stoop to the levels of beasts!" They said.

Sabo didn't really understand all of it, but he knew whatever it was that they said, it was mean. He thought he once heard someone say that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. He wondered if his parents never got that lesson.

* * *

"Do you like it?"

There was a loud squeal of delight in response to Ace's question. The young child lifted a brow at his brother and then blinked, not understanding the baby at the moment. Luffy was flailing his limbs where he lay, making grabby hands for the odd toy in his hands. It was a doll that he had found playing. He had stumbled upon an abandoned campsite and found the toy. It was a stuffed doll with unnaturally long arms and legs that flopped around whenever he moved it. He looked back at the baby.

"You can have it," Ace said, putting the plushie into his brother's hands. Luffy giggled as he grasped at it and pulled. The stitching surprisingly didn't come apart. Ace blinked before he smiled. He let out a laugh as he lay down on the blanket next to Luffy. He reached a hand up and ran it softly over the strands of hair on Luffy's head. The baby turned his big eyes to his brother and let out a gurgling sound, reaching his hand up to pat his brother's cheek. Ace just smiled again and closed his eyes, drifting off into a nap, ignoring the sounds of Magra cooking nearby and instead being lulled to sleep by his small brother's presence.

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**A/N: I thought this all got deleted last night, but it wasn't *cheers*. I know I've been gone for a while, but I'm back for now and I'm trying to make sure everything gets updated. I'll try to crank out another one or two chapters for this before school starts again, then my schedule will become insane!**

**alesfan: Wow, this is a very long time later :/ I hope you enjoy the update!**

**LostFairyMantic: No Whitebeard this chapter, but I brought Sabo in!**

**seikens: This has a little less fluff, but next chapter should be quite fluffy indeed. And that's the blam, fluff fluff fluff bam bam fluff bam. Or something like that. Thank you! C:**

**xxXxx: Thanks!**

**Trafalgar-Sev: It's been a long time since the last update :/ Sorry! And no, I don't want that to happen in the story, that is not my intention, I don't want Luffy to die like that *teary eyed* I feel like Garp had to be gentle to the boys in their early years, they wouldn't love him as much as they do if he wasn't.**

**Frostheart D. Blaize: More fluff! More next chapter too.**

**Guest: Thank you! :)**

**Thank you guys so much for reading, it makes me super duper extremely happy!**


	4. A Message from the Past

Warnings: Fluff

Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns everything related to One Piece. I own my words and the plot.

* * *

Luffy had quickly learned how to walk and talk. By his eighth month, he was a toddling, giggling bundle that often complained he was "hungy" when he wasn't babbling nonsensical words. He was always looking for "Asce" when he wasn't in the room.

Ace had just grabbed Luffy's bottle from Dadan and the toddler was drinking from it greedily. Luffy was sitting up, all by himself, and holding the bottle with his small hands. Ace was sitting nearby, staring out the window into the forest. He wondered what was beyond the forest. All he ever knew was his father's ship and this house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and raging beasts. With each day he felt a growing need to go explore what was out there.

At the same time, he knew it was too dangerous to bring Luffy out there. He wanted to bring the toddler with him. Still, something in his mind told him it was too early. Ace decided that for now, he would explore anything nearby. Then, once Ace was six and Luffy was two, Ace and Luffy would go on an adventure.

Without telling Dadan, of course.

* * *

It had been two months since Sabo had run away. It was mid May, the trash smelled as putrid as it did when he first arrived two days after his birthday in March. The men were all covered in grime, some of them were the worst criminals Sabo had ever seen. Well, not in comparison to the people of High Town. They were, by far, the worst. But at least here, people were honest.

At least here, the blue sky was completely visible, instead of being drowned out by the tall lascivious buildings of obnoxiously bright pinks, yellows, and oranges that demanded importance. It was the most brilliant blue he had ever seen, and he loathed that he had missed out on it for so long.

Sabo liked to watch the clouds float by overhead. He had never been able to do so before. He had always been trapped, whether it was by his parents forceful hands, the locked windows, the tall buildings, the unnecessary parasols…

The sky was more enthralling than money, and rich clothes, and etiquette. Sabo hated etiquette. They would tie him to the chair to make sure he would sit straight when he ate. They forced him to balance books on his head. They corrected anything he said that didn't sound proper.

Now Sabo was able to speak as he wanted to. He never wanted to sound proper again. And he wouldn't eat with manners, or walk straight. Because he no longer had to.

A roar from the forest brought the four year old out of his musings. His big eyes stared with wonder and curiosity. He hadn't gone into the forest yet. He truly wanted to, but something told him, in the depths of his heart, he should wait to venture in. At least, to explore everything. He was planning to make himself a tree house of sorts where he could sleep. It wouldn't be very deep in, this tree house. He had plans to build an insanely big one later on, when he was stronger.

For now, he was going to stick to gathering supplies to begin his new home. Because this was home, not the mansion he lived in. He would choose this over riches any day.

* * *

"_Ace! Sabo! Wait for me!"_

_He turned from looking forward, running towards a river on a dirt path in the woods, to the young child behind him. He was running, trying to catch up. The boy beside him began to slow down, so he decided to slow down a bit as well. The smaller boy caught up, and with a grin took their hands. _

_Suddenly they were the ones falling behind. He felt smaller. The child that had once been the shortest was now the tallest, waiting for them ahead. He was waving them to hurry up. He sped up, running faster, but it felt as if the taller boy was just getting farther and farther away._

"_C'mon Ace, Sabo, let's go play!"_

_He reached out a hand in the direction of the boy ahead of him, who was disappearing into the distance. he was a silhouette against a bright light. The shadows consumed everything, including the boy running next to him. He opened his mouth to scream the name of the child-_

* * *

Sabo lay on the wooden planks of the start of his treehouse. He was panting and sweating, his eyes wide as he tried to breathe. He had to remind himself - in and out, in and out, in and out - until the frantic racing of his pounding heart slowed.

Sabo stared at the sky above, at the twinkling stars that were his only source of light on this moonless night.

"Another weird dream…"

* * *

Ace was sitting in the windowsill, clutching at his head. He was staring at his lap, lips drawn in a thin and pressed line. Luffy was sleeping on their shared blankets nearby, snoring the night away. Ace wanted to sleep, but the dream he had just had, for some reason, scared him.

He was trying to calm himself down, but the summer humidity made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. He was used to having clothes stick to himself from his own sweat, to having the air be heavy from the summer heat. He wasn't used to having the sweat be a result of unnerving dreams. He couldn't really call it a nightmare, but for some reason the odd dream put a knot in his stomach, a knot he didn't at all like.

"Asce," A voiced mumbled. Ace looked behind himself, putting on his best neutral face. Luffy was sitting up, rubbing at his eyes and yawning. He looked to Ace. "Asce, no bed?"

"It's bedtime, I had to go to the bathroom," Ace told the fifteen-month-old toddler. He turned his body, jumping off of the windowsill. He stepped softly to his baby brother and sat down on the blankets. He pushed Luffy gently, making him lie down. Ace then laid down, putting one arm over his baby brother. Luffy yawned and was asleep in seconds. Ace stayed there, not falling back to sleep until his heart calmed and the sun was almost risen.

* * *

**A/N**: Hello after what feels like forever! I apologize for being away for so long, but I had personal problems that made anything related to writing extremely difficult.

Thank you so so so much for reading this chapter, I truly appreciate it! I love all of you guys so much! :) 3


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